Till it Happens to You
by KTC2097
Summary: Riley Matthews was living a double life. One where she pretended as if everything was sunshine and rainbows and another where she experienced nothing but thunder and rain. Will those around her be able to save her before it's too late? Will Riley ever be able to recover from the emotional turmoil her 'boyfriend' put her through?


Looking at herself in the mirror Riley could visibly count her ribs. Some part of her knew that this wasn't healthy, that she wasn't healthy, but then there was a part of her that said she wasn't thin enough yet. It felt as if there was a constant war in her mind. She tried her hardest to fight them, but she couldn't. She needed his approval. She had to be this way for him.

Continuing on with the examination of her body she counted the bruises. She lost count after fifteen. She knew there were more than that, but she found herself disgusted at the thought of the actual count. Sighing at herself through the mirror she decided to finally get dressed and head straight to her bedroom. She was exhausted and couldn't find the energy to cover the bruises that weren't already hidden by her clothes. She figured she would lie and tell her mom she had a headache and just wanted to turn in early. It was an excuse she used often. She knew that her mother was wanting her to visit their family doctor about it, but Riley refused. She told her mom she could "handle them" and that they didn't actually hurt "that bad".

She couldn't remember how she got into this messed up situation. She knew it all started when she pretended to like him because she was stepping away from Lucas for Maya. Which was stupid because they ended up realizing that there was nothing between them except friendship. Riley tried to break up with her beau after that. She apologized to him. She told him that she shouldn't have used him that way, but he wouldn't take that for an answer. He threatened her. He made her afraid of him. She felt as if she were inferior to him. He held all the cards and she had nothing to play with. It didn't take long for him to push her away from her friends. She occasionally saw Maya when her family got together with hers, but that was about it. She was no longer in their squad. She was no longer apart of Rileytown.

Every time she tried to talk to one of them she had a consequence. The bruises were the aftermath of one of them. She wanted so badly to reach out and ask someone for help, but she felt too scared to. She wanted nothing more than to feel something other than fear, but she didn't see that happening anytime soon. She felt as if he built a wall up between her and the people she held so close to her. She even shut her parents and her little brother out of her life. She didn't want to drag them down her black hole.

"Riley are you okay?" She heard her moms voice echo through the door. She always makes sure to lock the door. She does everything in her power to prevent her family from viewing her double life. She acted happy in front of her parents. She pretended to live in her special world, but behind closed doors, she let herself loose. She let herself cry.

"Just another headache mom. Don't worry I will be fine," Riley gritted through her teeth. She didn't enjoy lying to her parents. Even though she had found herself lying to her parents a lot lately she hadn't found it getting any easier. Instead, she found it harder. She always heard the increased amount of worry in her mom's voice with each 'migraine".

"I love you," Riley heard his voice say. It was what he always told her. When she questioned him he said those three words. At first, he made them convincing. She believed them, at first. Sometimes she still does believe them. He was quite the actor, but she knew the truth. She knew he was a monster. She knew that he was someone she wished she had never met. She wished that their paths had never crossed. She wished that he never moved to New York, but then she wouldn't wish what he was doing to her on anyone else.

She felt her body give into her sobs. She felt as if she had nothing left. She felt broken. To the rest of the school, she seemed to have a perfect life. She had an 'amazing' boyfriend who 'loved' her, to them she was still best friends with her 'squad', and she had an amazing family. They didn't see her breaking. She didn't let them. Every morning she woke up before her parents in order to cover up the marks he left on her body. Every morning she picked out an outfit that covered as much skin as possible. She was going through so much makeup that her mom was starting to get suspicious as to where it was all going.

She wanted her mom to get suspicious though. She wanted her to ask questions. She wanted her to crack the case. She wanted her to notice that for the past six months her daughter had been forced to be someone else. She knew her mother was a Lawyer and not a detective. She knew that her job wasn't to find out the truth, but to fight for it. She knew that once her mother found out what was happening to her she would fight for her until the end. But until then Riley was going to continue living in her own silent hell.

She can't just blurt out the truth. She knew he would find out somehow and then he would hurt her, or worse, he would hurt her friends and family. She was trying to protect them even if that meant she wasn't going to be able to protect herself. The only good thing that came out of her relationship with him is that she now knew what life was. She wasn't naive anymore. She was forced to grow up. She now knows how the world works. It beats you down until you have nothing left to give it. She felt as if she had nothing left to offer. She felt as if the only purpose she served was being his punching bag. She was his punching bag so no one else had to be.


End file.
